News

A large construction company has been reprimanded after an oil leak polluted a nearby river system.

The River Tawd in Skelmersdale was polluted in November last year, when Bramall Construction was carrying out demolition. The firm were demolishing an existing school to make way for a new special needs school. In defence, the firm stated that an oil storage tank leaked when it was being moved by one of their subcontractors.

The firm did not receive a fine however and instead just received a letter of warning from the Environment Agency.

Ian Gaskell from the Environment agency stated:

“Through our investigations which took place through a complex system of underground rivers, and culverted rivers, we were able to trace the source of the pollution.”

Local residents and campaigners have complained that the warning was just a ‘slap on the wrist’ for the firm and much steeper action should have been taken. The river has been polluted by accident in the past, in June 2009 a leak from a local dairy caused damage to the river’s eco system.

Many people take for granted the humble wheelie bin they use on a daily basis to dispose their general household waste. However, on a larger scale, wheelie bins are an important commodity for those who work at industrial sites. And you might have already guessed that they also come in sizes a lot bigger than we are commonly used to.

Most of us have 240 litre wheelie bins at home. We use them for our general waste and for our recyclable bottles and waste paper. Their design means that they can be moved quite easily and toughened lip means they can be picked up by the refuse collector truck and emptied without the need for human contact. It’s because of these traits that wheelie bins have now quickly overtaken the general cylindrical bins of the past.

Industrial wheelie bins

On an industrial site you can expect to see wheelie bins in an array of different colours and sizes, varying from small sized 120 litre wheelie bins to stainless steel 1100 litre wheelie bins, which are hardwearing, durable and able to take the knocks and blows of being used in a harsh environment. Larger wheelie bins usually have four rotating wheels instead of the usual two, which means they are easy to push in any direction, even when full.

Every factory should have at least one spill kit which it can use if oil or fuel is spilled on site.

Spill kits are available in a huge array of different types, with many available in different sizes to suit different industrial situations.

The three most common types of spill kits are:

General purpose spill kits

These kits are perfect to keep at the ready in case any type of hazardous liquid is spilled. They contain items such as spill control socks and pads and contain everything you need to control and deal with spills.

Some general purpose spill kits come in shoulder bags, while others come in large sized wheeled bins. You just need to choose an appropriate one for your application.

Oil spill kits

Oil spill kits are designed to control and absorb oil spills whilst repelling any water. This means they are perfect to use in external situations where rain water will otherwise soak into any other absorbents. They can also be used to great effect on lakes, in rivers and at sea.

Like general purpose spill kits, oil spill kits are available in different types that can be carried over the shoulder or pushed along in a large wheelie bin.

Chemical spill kits

Chemical spill kits are made from a substance that can absorb aggressive chemical spills. They are also a great spill device to use if you don’t know the nature of the spilled liquid. Depending on the spill kit you need, you can get chemical spill kits with absorbent socks, pads, pillows and everything else you need to contain and control a spill.

A chemical spill at Tilbury docks led to a spill response operation by the local fire brigade.

The spill occurred when a valve on a bulk liquid storage tank broke and the contents of the tank started to pour out with no means of stopping. The liquid inside the tank was ethanol, which is not just toxic but also highly volatile and hence flammable.

The spill happened on the 14th of December and fire crews from both Orsett and Grays attended the scene. The bulk storage tank whose valve was damaged can store up to 33,000 litres of liquid and the ethanol was described as ‘pouring’ out of the tank at one stage, by a spokesperson from the fire service.

A blanket of foam was laid around the tank to stop the liquid accidentally igniting while a new container was sourced so the remaining liquid could be transferred. The Port of London Authority came to the rescue with a storage container and the liquid was transferred quickly and efficiently.

Bunded storage

Bunded storage containers are the perfect way to store hazardous liquid. Because they have a bund, they have a secondary method of capture in case any liquid spills or the primary bund fails. It’s important to make sure that your liquid storage containers comply with the latest oil storage regulations and environmental protection agency regulations. If you are unsure, contact an online spill control expert.

Chemical spills and fuel spills can be planned for in an industrial environment, but when a chemical spill happens at a school it comes as somewhat of a surprise. But that’s what happened at a school in Watford last week.

Children at a school in Chorleywood were evacuated on the 16th of December when a toxic substance was spilled onto the classroom floor. Fire fighters were immediately called to the scene at St Clement Danes School when approximately two litres of formaldehyde was spilt.

The liquid, which is used for preservation purposes, was spilt on a science lab floor at around 9:30am. The school children were evacuated but no one was reported as being hurt or unwell after the incident.

Fire fighters spent over an hour at the scene and used spill absorbent granules and powders to eliminate the spilled substance.

Chemical neutralization powders and acid spill kits are readily available online and are a great way to be prepared in case you have a spill, no matter how small or insignificant. Spill kits usually come with everything you need to effectively deal with a spill including absorbents, PPE and a disposal method for used spill control products.

Oil contamination in a river in Hitchin has led to a wildlife rescue operation after more than 20 birds were significantly oiled after using the river.

The rescue operation took several days to be complete on Walsworth Common, with one RSPCA inspector braving the cold weather and wading into the water in an attempt to coax the oiled birds to the bank, where other inspectors with nets were waiting.

All the birds have been taken to a nearby wildlife hospital to be cleaned.

The Environment Agency made an urgent response after receiving a phone call informing them that cooking oil had been poured down a manhole which then flowed into the river.

An Environment Agency spokesperson stated:

“An officer visited the site and we believe it was cooking oil poured down a man hole,”

“This got into a drain, which flowed into the river. This was reported to us on Monday.”

One of the RSPCA inspectors at the scene stated:

“It was quite a serious mess really,”

“It’s pretty unusual for it to be so bad. Even though the birds were covered in oil and in quite a bad way, they were hard to catch. We were constantly trying for at least six hours.

“The birds were constantly trying to clean off the oil also. They were exhausting themselves with the effort, plus there are all kinds of issues with them ingesting oil.

“It is great to hear the birds are doing ok now though. I was quite worried about them.”

A chemical spill at an animal feed plant in Burton led to workers being evacuated and local residents being told to stay indoors.

A system failure at the plant released a large quantity of quicklime, which gave off noxious fumes. The incident at the Rumenco plant was described as a critical incident by police and alongside six fire engines and a number of ambulances, the Midlands Air Ambulance were also scrambled.

The spill at the plant is the second involving quicklime in the past few years.

A number of people were checked over by the ambulance crews at the scene as a precautionary measure but did not have to visit hospital. The hazardous materials officer with the Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service, Phil McFarlane, stated:

“The process of how much calcium oxide goes into the system has failed and more has gone in than was needed, which has caused the heat and fumes.”

The chief fire officer from Staffordshire Peter Dartford stated:

“It’s a serious incident but something we train for and something that is planned for. We’ve had incidents here in the past so the crews are well aware of the risks and of how to make the appropriate arrangements.”

Fire fighters discussed the spill clean-up operation with factory staff before letting them back into the site.

With many businesses now starting to prepare for closure over the Christmas and New Year period, there are lots of loose ends to be tied up and lots of different tasks to be dealt with.

If your workplace is preparing to wind down, as well as dealing with any tasks for 2010, you also need to start looking ahead to the New Year when it comes to ensuring that you’re properly equipped as far as safety is concerned.

If you work in an environment where the chances of a spill occurring is very high, you will no doubt be aware that you need to ensure that you have adequate spill kits.

As you can never tell when a spill is going to strike, it’s always a very wise idea to equip yourself with enough kits to deal with more than one incident. If a spill does occur, and you find that you don’t have adequate equipment to deal with the situation, you could find yourself faced with disastrous consequences.

So, make the effort to stock up on suitable spill kits today and begin 2011 safe in the knowledge that you are more than ready to deal with an incident.

A chemical spill at a factory in Holbeach St Marks resulted in two members of staff attending hospital last week.

The spill happened at the Bakkavor Pizza on Saturday evening. Around 30 firefighters attended the scene after being called when the spill occurred. When they arrived they attended to the two members of staff who were suffering with breathing difficulties due to breathing in an over concentrated chemical. When paramedics arrived on the scene the staff members were showered to remove any chemical residue and taken to hospital.

The area was cordoned off while fire crews carried out an investigation into what happened. It was found that none of the chemical had entered the drainage system and the area had been cleaned down before the fire brigade arrived at the scene.

A Bakkavor spokesperson stated:

“We can confirm that there was an incident of a chemical spill on Saturday evening at the Bakkavor Pizza site in Holbeach St Marks.

“The correct procedures were followed – the factory was evacuated and the emergency services called.

“Two employees were treated at the site and taken to hospital as a precaution. Both employees were released early on Sunday morning and both are well.

“The site is currently investigating the cause of the incident to ensure this can be avoided in the future.”